Beer: Reviews & Ratings

Hofbrau Oktoberfestbier brewed by Hofbrauhaus Munchen with an ABV of 6.30% Keep in mind this brew comes out of a green bottle. This brew pours out a nice golden amber color with a nice white head. The smell is skunky with some grains. I''m not big on the smell of this brew. Now for the taste it is skunky with some grains. This brew goes down smooth but you have to get over the skunkyness of this brew. Overall I'm giving this brew a 2.5 out of 5. If I can find this brew in a can or brown bottle I think it would be a lot better. The skunky smell and taste is the killer of this brew. (592 characters)

I gave this a 3.75 the other day and I now see it shows as a 5.Maybe it was the extra alcohol - which wasnt very noticable - it was very drinkable, but too much carbonation (in spite of a very agressive pouring with a huge head). I do like the hoppiness though. Will try review properly next time. (298 characters)

Poured from a green 11.2 oz. bottle. Has a pale light golden color with a 1/2 inch head. Smell is kind of grassy, maybe a touch skunky. Taste is very light, some malts, some light grassiness, more pilsner like than oktoberfest in flavor profile. Feels light in the mouth and overall, while a drinkable and decent beer, there are way to many better examples of this style to recommend this one. (393 characters)

10/16/13 On tap at Rattle n Hum, NYC. This obviously travels very well. Smooth & perfectly balanced. Not sure about a Maß bier but this sure would serve well as a full session companion. (188 characters)

Not my favorite German Oktoberfest, but a good beer all the same. Hofbrau's version comes in clear and gold, with a thinner white head. The head lingers on aided by moderate carbonation. THe aroma is very mild, but just hints of malt sweetness and grass. The taste is a little more robust, with more depth to the sweetness, a little bit of biscuit, and a nice hit from the hops. The body is a little thinner and with some carbonation. (435 characters)

11.2oz bottle poured into a pint glassA: Light orange with a thin headS: Malt, a bit of caramel and a bit of spiceP: Matches the aromas. Fairly light-bodied with slightly sweet malt, spice and caramelM: Light-bodied, a bit sweet but pleasantO: No flaws and pleasant flavors overall, fits the style well just not that complex (329 characters)

Just a general comment and observation on some of the reviews of the German Oktoberfest on here. To say Spaten-Franziskaner, Paulaner, Warsteiner, Hofbrau, etc "are not good representations of the style" is an erroneous and quite snobbish, ignorant American view. Although all large breweries, those companies ARE Oktoberfest and are all that's served in the Munich beer tents. Far, far before American micro-breweries, craft brewers, and snobbish beer geeks, these styles epitomized what not only an Oktoberfest brew is, but their main line epitomized what German beer is. Before Papa Joe's IPA shack was sold all over the place, going to a German restaurant and having a Spaten on draft was beyond a treat. Now that we're all so spoiled, and 5000 beers in a store still isn't enough, we've cast off some of these larger European breweries to the curb and put them in the same class as a Miller. These companies ARE "the style". Some backyard hipsters operating in a 1000 sqft facility craft brewing are not "the experts" and leading what an Oktoberfest is. In fact no American brewery is. There's a huge difference between the German style and the American version. I look for authentic beers, and when it comes to Oktoberfest, the ONLY beers to drink are from Munich. The American versions are drain-pour. Sometimes it's just about the drinkability and being able to pound liter after liter and have fun. Not jack up the ABV to heightened levels, sell it for a premium, and make every bottle some ride on the wild side. Tis the Gemütlichkeit - ein prosit! (1,572 characters)

O - Almost feel that I got a mislabeled bottle, but reading other reviews it appears that this is just an extremely poor example of the style. Completely off in color, malt complexity. Nothing wrong if it were categorized as a pale lager, but this is just not an Oktoberfest. (546 characters)

On tap at The Seehund. Pours a translucent light amber color with an inch of head. Lots of lacing. The aroma is malty with some honey, sweet bread, caramel and floral hop notes. The taste is floral hops followed by the malts. Caramel and honey towards the end with a bit of floral hops. Medium bodied. Overall, great representation of the style. (409 characters)

500ml bottle. The titular celebration is well over for another year, but the beer lives on.

This beer pours a clear, pale golden straw colour, with three fingers of puffy, aggressively foamy, and frothy eggshell white head, which leaves some decent random webbed lace around the glass as it evenly ebbs away.

It smells of grainy, slightly bready pale malt, stale lemon juice, a hint of further drupe fruit, and rather perfume-heavy earthy, leafy hops. The taste is more gritty, grainy, cereal malt, a mixed bag of apple, pear, and lemon fruitiness, a more prominent leafy, grassy hoppiness, and a subtle metallic booziness.

The carbonation is soft, but tightly so, the body medium-light in weight, and maybe a tad watery in its perfunctory smoothness, all of which bears strange witness to a mild creaminess. It finishes off-dry, the hovering pilsner malts still doing their thing, bolstered by some lingering fruit salad, while the hops seem content in their day at the alcohol spa, Baden-Baden-style, the place so nice, they named it twice!

Another one of those German standards, where differentiation seems like a hard row to hew - it's difficult to not just proclaim 'yup, tastes very much like a real Bavarian Marzen', and leave it at that. But no, we have to go and talk about the headier than normal orchard fruit notes, the barely contained booze (which is technically a fair bit higher than average, no?), and the general zeitgeist of an offering that slowly, but surely grew on me by the end of the (import, hence the time lag) bottle. (1,549 characters)

Draft offering at the Pittsburgh location. The menu described this as the beer imported from Munich and the same beer served during Octoberfest, so I assume this is the correct listing. Offered up in a large dimbled mug, it appears a polished clear copper clor with a sudsy white froth. Some spotty lace is left clinging on the glass.

The aroma is fresh and malty sweet with a backing of buttered bread. Despite swirling and taking plenty of whiffs, I dont get a whole lot more character beyond that. Pretty simple and straight forward without fault.

The taste is buttery sweet with diacetyl imparting plenty of buttery notes that blend into a taste of fresh bready grain. A faint noble hop character provides enough bitterness to contrast. There is a persistent sweetness lasting into the aftertaste.

This is a light bodied brew with a modest amount of carbonation. In true octoberfest fashion, this is pretty crushable and something you could drink effortlessly if you dont focus too much on what is going on with it. Nice to say I had it, but I doubt I would opt to try this again if presented with other options. (1,119 characters)

Pours a golden amber color complete with 2 fingers worth of a frothy white head. Leaves behind minimal lacing on the glass, but it does look a little bit more syrupy and thickened than the average offering from Hofbräuhaus. Definitely more on the viscous side, and the extra booze is definitely at fault here. Pretty good in terms of its simple presentation, but hardly any difference between this and their normal lager offering.

Smells exactly as I'd expect this brewery's offerings to be - the unmistakable German malty sweetness, combined with light citrus and fruit. There's notes of white grapes, pears, and green apple, which combine with the grassy, citrus laden (think tangerines) herbal edge. There's definitely more sweetness than usual with the extra ABV here, which enhances those toffee and sugar cane flavors that I find classic in the style. Perhaps what makes this more different then other run-of-the-mill pilsners is the increased sweetness and earthy, hoppy flavors? Not so sure, but it's definitely not bad.

The flavor is the exact same, except for the fact that it's a little creamier and thicker than I anticipated. Notes of white grapes, raisins, and pears are a little explosive here from the pilsen malts, and the finish is most definitely filled with notes of lemon peel, grass, and orange blossom notes that are still oily and sticky by this point. The sweetness is great at the finish, with the alcohol becoming increasingly present. The notes of toffee continue to rise in sweetness, but it's luckily cut by the crisp grainy finish. Drinks like a charm - creamy, well carbonated, and refreshing, as any good German pilsner should. I do think the booziness detracts from the subtle nuances, but it's otherwise a refreshing offering.

Here's my last Oktoberfest offering perhaps for the remainder of the year. It's sad how a lot of these beers gather dust, yet it's even sadder that whatever a lot of these breweries are making in Germany for Oktoberfest are no different from their standard offerings. This is an example of that, but it still ends up being enjoyable. Due to the strict brewing regulation that goes on during the summer months in Germany, these older beers have been lagering sur lie for a longer period of time, and the booze is expected. Also, due to the inordinate amount of people that attend the festival, they have to get them off of the seats somehow! While I've had better Oktoberfest seasonal offerings, this one is still pretty good. (2,551 characters)

If you like miller lite, this beer is for you. Scary how similar this is to mL for me anyways. Sweet, fairly one dimensional and watery. Light amber/yellow...seems like a pils. Smells pils-y. Clear as yellow glass. I would not drink again. Sweet, breadlike finish. I assume, based on the german nature of this beer, there are no adjucts, but it tastes corny to me. I am not sure why the others in my group loved it so. (418 characters)

Oktoberfestbier pours a golden straw color with no head. There is a sweet apple juice like aroma. The taste is rather pale, light, and has a strong apple juice like flavor. Flavor is present but rather light and watery, and a little too much of the sweet side. Overall its a sweet light fruity Marzen. (301 characters)

Poured out of a 5 L party can. One and half fingers of head on a clear, straw colored body.The aroma is grainy. Nice and straightforward.The taste is light overall, mild bitterness and a little banana and malt sweetness. Not great, but not horrible.The texture is crisp with moderate carbonation.The big can it came in looks neat. (334 characters)

I have been looking for this style of beer as of late and stumbled across this recognizing the HB from the fest pics on the net.

Serving this from two 12 oz bottles into my 240z mug. it pours clear and golden as your first morning pee after a night of drinking! A nice white whispy ehad which leaves very little lace down the sides of the mug. Smells of Malt Hay and german hops! Reinheitsgebot it states on the bottle following the tradition from 1516. Taste is sweet malt hay hitting you with on style (lets be honest this beer is the style) Hops and a tiny bit of bitterness at the end that mellows into a sticky mouth feel!

Great beer wish I was in Germany But alas I have to settle for my imagination! (740 characters)

Hofbräu Oktoberfestbier has a medium, white head and a clear, bubbly, golden appearance with some lacing left behind. The aroma is of rich, full, and pungent barley malt and sweetness, and the flavor is of sweet, hearty, and bold malt, with a fairly moderate hop bite to balance out the malt liquor-like sweetness. Mouthfeel is medium and a bit slick, and Hofbräu Oktoberfestbier finishes wet, refreshing, and easily drinkable. This beer so much reminds me of major label American malt liquors, but without the corn adjunct or the background cloying sweetness. Overall, I think it’s a very enjoyable one. RJT (612 characters)

Amazing to think this is the first real Ok fest beer from Germany to come into BC. A lighter version of the style but still over 6% , this is a easy drinking clean marzen that a pleasant bready finish. While not as malty as I like for the style this is typical of the OK fest beers being served these days in Munich, lighter in colour and taste. I will buy more of this but other German Pils at around $2 a tall can present a better value. (439 characters)

Overall: It was an average Octoberfest beer - but not quite the Marzen profile I was looking for. I felt it leaned more towards a full bodied & malty pils. I'll finish the six pack - CHEERS! (736 characters)

Golden in color, looking more like a Helles than the amber Marzens of olde. Two-finger head with pretty good retention. Some spotty lacing. The honeyed, malty aroma is nice, if unspectacular. A floral, slightly zesty hop note rounds it out.

Flavor has the traits of a good festbier: solid, slightly sweet maltiness with the right amount of hoppiness to keep it from being bland and one-dimensional. Well-balanced from start to finish. Slick texture, carbonation seems to fall flat in relatively short order. Clean flavor profile, though just like the aroma, it's nothing earth-shattering.

While not one of the top Oktoberfest beers, Hofbrau's is simple, tasty, and something I could easily see myself having a one liter stein of. (732 characters)